Michael Elliot Rutenberg is
Professor of Theatre at Hunter College of the City University of New York, and the author
of Edward Albee: Playwright in Protest. He is the former Head of Israels
National Conservatory of Stage and Cinematic Art  the only American to hold that
position.

Dr. Rutenberg received his B.A. degree in Theatre from Brooklyn College,
and his M.F.A. and D.F.A. degrees in Directing and Dramatic Criticism from the Yale School
of Drama.

He is a member of the famed Actors
Studio where he has developed new plays for public presentation. An active professional
director in New York City, he has directed at The American Theatre of Actors, The West
Bank Café, The Theatre for the New City, and The Corner Loft Theatre. Regionally, Dr.
Rutenberg has directed at the Deertrees Summer Theatre in Maine, The Monticello Playhouse
in New York State, and the Silo Circle Theatre in North Carolina.

He is a member of the Society of Stage
Directors and Choreographers, the Dramatists Guild, the Theatre
League of South Florida,and the Mystery
Writers of America, having written and directed A Polite Case of Murder.

Professor
Rutenberg has been guest director at Dartmouth College and at the
Annual Theatre Festival in Key West, Florida. Recently,
he taught master classes in playwriting at The Caldwell Theatre and
the Hollywood Playhouse, also in Florida. On October 21,
2003 his play The Candidate opened at Love Creek Productions in
New York City. Then, March 25, he directed the New York premiere of
The Fist at Theater For The New City in New York City. In
July, 2004 Love Creek Productions presented his play A Birthday
Gift For Barbie.Dr. Rutenberg has
been a visiting professor of theatre at the newly opened Digital
Media Arts College and at Lynn University, both in Boca Raton,
Florida. He was recently awarded a Fulbright to Haifa University in
Israel as Writer/Artist-in-Residence from February to June 2005. Now
back in the United States, he has assumed his regular duties as
professor of theatre at Hunter College, and recently
directed The Crucible, which opened in November, 2005.

In
2004 and again in 2005 he was awarded the New York City Chancellor’s
"Certificate of Recognition" for Scholarly Achievement. In April of 2006, Professor
Rutenberg received the Hunter College "Presidential Award For
Excellence in Teaching" The following month he directedThe
Jewish Theatre of New York's production of My Name Is Rabbi Meir
Kahane as part of Theatre For the New City's 11th annual Lower
East Side Festival of the Arts. In June, 2007 he
directed his short play Payback,which was a
finalist at the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play
Festival, and in November, 2007, directed Peter Weiss's
Holocaust docudrama The Investigation at the Loewe
Theatre in Manhattan.
In July of 2009, Dr. Rutenberg directed the world premiere of
Jonathan Alexandratos's Death In Mozambique, at The Cherry
Pit in New York City.

Professor Rutenberg is now listed in the 2009-2010 Edition of
Who's Who in America and the 2010-2011,
2012-2013 editions
of Who's Who In The World. In 2012 he received
Brooklyn College's "Lifetime Achievement Award." In April, 2013 he won first prize for his play "A
Miracle" in the 6th annual International Short Play Competition
sponsored by the Boca West Theatre Company in Florida.